Wierd
- Mark Colvin
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Re: Wierd
Hi Martin,
This is a New Zealand Red Admiral (Vanessa gonerilla).
Kind regards. Mark
This is a New Zealand Red Admiral (Vanessa gonerilla).
Kind regards. Mark
Re: Wierd
Another interesting glimpse of evolution! The New Zealand form persists there and the British form here. I expect both show small variability in their home ranges but not much. What makes individual species patterns so persistent and yet different in different places?
- Pete Eeles
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Re: Wierd
I wonder what the common ancestor looked like! Anyway, they're different because they have different environmental forces acting upon them. For example, there may be an avian predator in the southern hemisphere that isn't found in the northern hemisphere, hence the spots. That's how evolution works
Cheers,
- Pete
Cheers,
- Pete
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- Padfield
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Re: Wierd
Similar (but less exaggerated) spots are found on some of the more distantly related painted ladies, like the American painted lady and the West Coast lady:
http://www.wildutah.us/html/butterflies ... adult.html
This suggests their evolutionary origin predates the divergence of red admirals and painted ladies.
Guy
http://www.wildutah.us/html/butterflies ... adult.html
This suggests their evolutionary origin predates the divergence of red admirals and painted ladies.
Guy
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